This blog functions like an exhaust valve to bring out my cluttered and sometimes confused thoughts. Please give your comments so that we can make this more useful, with wider perspectives. You may find my micro-blogs on Twitter @jay_ambadi.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Yet another Unsolicited Advice to Indian National Congress

One more set of elections got over,
with one more drubbing to the grand old party of Indian politics. Going by the
unsolicited (and unheeded?) advises pouring in for the party’s top leadership,
one wonders how the Party keeps losing elections despite so many well-wishers! If
all these ‘well-wishers’ worked hard for a Congress win, it would have been
difficult to defeat it in elections!

It is not just the usual
detractors and the media pundits that want Gandhi family to own up the responsibility
for repeated defeats and step aside from the top leadership of the party. Even
some of the diehard supporters are seen promoting hashtags, calling for a Gandhi
Mukt Congress. Many others are not so critical of the top leadership, but
demand specific actions by the leadership, to ensure the reversal of Party’s fortunes.

Let me
share some of the thoughts that came up while reading those friendly, and
not-so-friendly advises. Firstly, did anyone in their right senses expect
Congress to stage a coup and reverse writings on the wall in Haryana and
Maharashtra, as was visible during the recently concluded Loksabha elections? More
so, when its partner NCP had ditched it just before the elections? I, for one,
was not expecting any such dramatic changes and found the results more or less on
the expected lines.

Secondly,
one of the suggestions being made, to change the electoral fortunes of Congress
is to empower local and regional leaderships. On the face of it, the suggestion
looks logical. However, we also have a situation where Kumari Shelja has
already made a demand for Mr. Hooda to own up the responsibility for the election
results in Haryana. She blamed Hooda’s style of functioning, wherein, allegedly
he had sidelined all other leaders. Now when you empower one leader, wouldn’t it
make him more powerful than others? How will you ensure that all others in the Party
remain happy and satisfied? Nobody can blame that Hooda Govt had not performed
in Haryana. By almost all indices, the
state had progressed well beyond national averages under the Hooda Govt.

Other
Maharashtra leaders are also complaining that it is an empowered Prithviraj Chavan
that has caused the loss in Maharashtra! Again, in Maharashtra, people seem to have not
appreciated how the leadership persisted with a Mr. Clean as the CM! Chavan and
Hooda represented two styles of politics, but both did not work for Congress. It
only shows that perhaps many factors including the continuing honeymoon of
voters with Narendra Modi and natural anti-incumbency mood against multiple
term governments contributed in ousting the Congress.

Last but
not the least, is the demand for the top leadership (Sonia and Rahul) to step
aside. The demand comes from two sources. First source is the genuine outrage and
frustration of the Party supporters for whom it is a pain to see repeated electoral
reversals. The other source is the opponents who are drawing some pleasure by
attacking the leadership when it is most vulnerable. Many in the Right Wing considers
Nehru-Gandhi family as the only stumbling block in their quest for a Congress
Mukt Bharat, which is necessary for them to pursue their majoritarian agenda.

In
principle, I am not in favour of dynasties in democracy. However, I am a
pragmatist who recognizes the role of Gandhi family in holding the Congress
Party together. The experiment involving Sitaram Kesri and Narasimha Rao had
shown how difficult it will be for the Congress Party to stay together when
there is no glue of a Gandhi name to hold it together. Just like RSS holds BJP
together, Congress is held together by the Gandhi name. Also, the role of
families in Indian politics (same as in other businesses and even professions) cannot
be overcome so easily. In India, all political parties, with the exception of
Left Parties are controlled by one or other family. Even the BJP, which is
controlled by the RSS is not free from the role of families, with a large
number of second and third generation members already representing it in the
legislative bodies. There is no evidence
to suggest that Indian electorate detests the role of families in politics. Therefore,
the question of dynasty and its effect on electoral fortunes may be misplaced.

All
these points clearly show that there are no readymade solutions for Congress to
adopt. Every formula can be seen as tested and failed at some point in time. No
Party can afford to discard its leadership each time it suffers an electoral setback.
It is also a fact that currently there is no leader who has the stature to
merely step into the shoes of Sonia or Rahul and start leading the Party with
the full support from all sections of the Party and the wider electorate. Therefore,
it has to take a more long-term view and strengthen itself from the grassroots
level.

The Party
is out of power at the national level and in a majority of the states. The fortune
hunters have either moved to BJP and got elected or are in the process of
getting in the good books of Modi. Only the committed workers will remain with
the party. The party has to take steps to energize this core support base and develop
it into a strong force. It is in this context that I would like to place my
unsolicited advice on record. Rahul Gandhi can play an important role in
executing this suggestion and kill many birds with a single stone.

The
suggestion is to introduce genuine internal democracy in the Party. Rahul had
tried this in bits and pieces. However, to derive any benefit from it the
adoption has to be universal and wholehearted. Let no leader get any position except
through an election. Right from the local committees, to the AICC President let
all positions be occupied by those leaders elected by the party members. Let local and regional leadership emerge on
their own right and not as ‘empowered’ by the High Command. Let the candidates for
lections also be decided by the primaries (the system was piloted during last
Loksabha elections). Even Rahul Gandhi should contest and win whatever party post
that he aspires for, instead of continuing to be entitled on the basis of a
surname. If the leaders elected through genuine internal elections decide to
elect Rahul Gandhi, he would have finally buried the tag of dynasty and emerged
as a leader, in his own right.

For the beginning, let the Party announce
final timelines for the next round of organizational elections. According to a reported
statement by the Chairman of the Party’s electoral authority, Mr. Mullappaly
Ramachandran, the entire election process is expected to be completed by July
2015. Let it be made known to all that there will be no exemptions from its
process. This will energize the workers who might be demoralized from the
recent setbacks, and make them work instead of merely waiting for the ruling side
to commit blunders. It will also ensure healthy competition among leaders and
result in emergence of a set of leaders who have the backing of the party
workers.

I can
foresee the objections to the above suggestion. However, I don’t buy the
arguments that internal elections will weaken the Party. Party is already
weakened by the present system, and there is no guarantee that continuing with
the same system will produce any better results. Kerala presents an example where
different groups are functioning within the Party and yet the Party continues
to do well, organizationally and electorally.

A party that is committed to
democracy must be willing to accept the risks in adopting that same democracy. Leaders
who cannot live by democracy cannot aspire for its fruits alone!

Winning
elections is necessary, but it is not the only end in democracy.

Frankly buddy I lost interest beyond 2nd paragraph, but as I scrolled down I can make sense that you are giving so much ideas. It is easy for a confused mind to sit down in some corner boast. Have you ever worked on ground level, or for that matter how many political brainstorming have to attended before you tell Congress what should be done. As I said it is very easy for you to sit there and fizz (reminds me of Indians watching cricket & throwing opinions, while they themselves can't bat). While we sitting here at Parel Mumbai knew it is (anti-incumbency) and for all the wrong doing of our allies. Congress very well know what Democracy is, much more than what you have learned in school. Like other parties we failed to let the people know the things on PR front. Thanks for the suggestion, Congress failed to give good governance, and it may take some time for us to bounce back and we will..

Congress needs to make their PR strong,needs spkeperson haviong GOOD oratoty,social media presence is needed ,internal democrasy by independent ,fair election for local up to a top too will have emeragnce of acceptable leader,at the same time state level leadership development also is must.Idia needs strong opposition party survive the democracy earned by our forefathers.It is not must that Congress should come in power immediately,but must have capcity to play a constructive role at State and National level is needs of hour.

1. INC must allow indiv. joining to be encouraged, presently, only people who bring mob for meetings r encouraged.Thus, they r inadvertently,stopping participation of young/veteran educated people.2.must redefine mission, vision,economic agenda, pub. state level dailies/weeklies with input articles/messages fm centre, creating a corewho will spread ideology & counter opposite views.3.people who used power to enrich their family/friends must be identified & not allow to stand for any position,limited to only outside support.